Sexual Predator Captured

A convicted sexual predator that has ties to Alton has been taken back into custody. 40-year-old Frederick L. Buettner - who sometimes goes by Eric - pled guilty to charges in 2004 to raping his young daughter, and was sentenced to ten years in prison. He was released to a halfway house in East St. Louis in May of 2013, but walked away last July.

Buettner’s mugshot depicts a man with long hair and a full beard, but he had apparently cut and dyed his hair. Buettner was found working behind the counter of a South St. Louis gas station. An alert customer apparently recognized him after seeing pictures on a social media site, and alerted a nearby officer. His former wife, Heather Claxton, who is also mother of his daughter, says it feels like a weight has been lifted.

Click here for Claxton's comments

Buettner was taken into custody Monday night, officially charged with a parole violation.